January to
March 2006
All Change…
New home, new look, new staff!
This
Quarters Highlights…
* St Philips School – Collaborative partnerships in Manchester
* St Georges School – Touching base on the Wirral
* St Aidens School – Musical extravaganza
* Smithdown School – African slumber party
*Calderstones School – Diversity week
*Knowsley LEA – Partnerships in Knowsley
*Grundy Art Gallery – Black history demonstrations. Workshops in knowsley.
Osun
Arts Has Moved!
Now in its 12th year Osun
Arts continues to expand and we have finally outgrown our old office space and
moved to a sparkly new building at 52-54 Mount Pleasant. Thanks to funding from
the Arts Council we have been able to kit the place out and now have space for
our second paid member of staff, Melanie Peck, who joined us in January as well
as for our new team of volunteers who will be joining us shortly. Not to
mention a lovely little viewing/ exhibition/ archive space for people who come
to visit us at our new place!
Keeping with the theme of change Osun Arts has had a face
lift, we now have a brand new web site that features details of all our
forthcoming projects as well as an archive of things we’ve been up to and
plenty of clips and material from Osun Arts events, so don’t
forget to check us
out at www.osunarts.co.uk We are also currently in the process of updating our
marketing image and will have a brand new set of logo’s, letterheads and
publicity packs by the end of the month!
This
Quarters Highlights…
This quarter has seen one of the longest on-
going projects of the year so far; Osun Arts
have been working alongside Creative Partnerships and Apples
and Snake in Salford, based at St
Philips Primary school, on a 4 month creative writing project. 33 children
from years 3 and 4 worked with our artists to
create a project focused on Griot and Yoruba storytelling traditions. The
children developed exciting performances incorporating drumming and music,
developing a new understanding of
50-54 Mount Pleasant,
Liverpool, L35SD. 0151-7070459
the belief systems and cultures that underpin each tradition
and exploring the ancestry of self- identity. This work acted as a frame for
the children’s creative writing and our storytellers helped the children build
on their experiences to create stories of their own.
In February Osun Arts participated in the annual ‘African
Week’ at St Georges Primary School,
one of the largest primary schools on the Wirral. We spiced up the occasion
with some authentic African music and dance routines for all the children to
participate in and enjoy and ended the day with some wind down stories ready
for home time. We also visited St Aidens
School in Huyton, working around the whole school from reception to year 6
introducing the children to a range of African stories and myths accompanied by
a background of authentic music and illustrative dances.
March has been one of our busiest months so far this year;
we started off hosting a bedtime slumber party at Smithdown Primary School. All the children and teachers turned up
kitted out for bed complete with pyjamas, slippers, cuddly toys and pillows
while our artists told them moonlight African tales! After that we spent a week
at Calderstones School supported by
EMTAS, doing participatory workshops with the pupils in music, dance, drama,
storytelling and crafts and ended the week with a home cooked traditional
African meal made by the pupils and the artists for everyone to enjoy.
March also saw the first, and hopefully not the last,
partnership between Osun Arts and the Knowsley Education Authority which lead
to us working in 12 different schools in the Knowsley area, helping the
children with creative writing and working with them to develop their own
versions of African myths and Legends, which all the children thoroughly
enjoyed. Finally we rounded off the month with 2 days at the Grundy Art Gallery working with 2
different schools. Starting with an assembly for the students and teachers then
leading into sessions illustrating issues of black history, working with the
children to develop their understanding of concepts with discussions and
demonstrations of authentic African music and dance.
Coming
Events…
The Pantheon of Deities- Dance of the Gods tour is coming
soon and will be visiting Theatres and schools across the country from June
until November. Our schools work will
continue at Sudley, St Finbars and many more schools. See web site for further
details. www.osunarts.co.uk
